Charging attempts to “ostracize me from the air” are declaring he could not support either candidate for the presidency, Father Charles E. Coughlin announced today that he will not broadcast this year.
In a statement published in his organ, Social Justice, the radio priest, who had been broadcasting for 13 years, said: “As much as I would desire to resume my place before the microphone, I recognize how futile my efforts would be if they were restricted to a group of small stations handicapped by a lack of power.”
Coughlin earlier announced his decision to abandon his broadcasts temporarily in his congregation at the Shrine of the Little Flower at Royal Oak. He had been scheduled to go on the air on Oct. 13, but his agents, Air casters, Inc. had been finding difficulty in contracting for time, partly because of the new code of the National Association of Broadcasters barring controversial talks such as Coughlin s.
Asserting that “men powerful in the field of radio and other activities” had been “resolved to silence me by one method or another” Coughlin charged that “virtual censorship” existed through the Federal Communications Commission which he said, “is deepened upon the President of the United States.”
“I strongly suspect that my belief in the policy of no foreign entanglements. It’s peace, in constitutional government and in America for Americans is temporarily out modify the radio priest said. “Not until there is an opportunity for the pendulum of reaction to swing to the right will I resume my place before a microphone. It may be in 10 months. It may be in 10 years. It will not be until we cease being war-minded. I want it understood that I am not retiring from broadcasting permanently. I have been retired temporarily, by those who control circumstances beyond my reach.”
Coughlin said he could not support either President Roosevelt or Wendell I. Willkie “insofar as the leaders of both parties have committed themselves to war and to unnaturally.” (Willkie has repudiated Coughlin s support.)
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
